again, that from the associated press. and now, we talk to a reporter on capitol hill about the actions so far by senate democrats in reaching an agreement. todd is from the takeaway. hours before the deadline, democrats announced a scaled- down version to avoid the so- called fiscal cliff. what are some of the key items in the deal? >> the most important items people will be paying attention to are the income tax rates. you are looking at a tax increase on individuals making more than $400,000 and individuals and families making more than $450,000. president obama campaigned on 250 thousand dollars, and they are redefining what is middle class. now, someone who makes $300,000, that person is middle class, too, but that is fiscal cliff politics. you have the marginal rates. there are going to be some changes to the estate tax. the estate tax exemption is $5 million at a 30% rate, a 35% rate. that is going up to 40% at $5 million and will be indexed going forward, and there are some changes to dividends. taxes, and one thin